Even after all this time, it still affects Karen Carney. Even the thought of it still aggravates old wounds not quite healed.
During our interview, the former Arsenal and Chelsea winger – one of England’s greatest and most-capped players – has already given a thought-provoking response to what, if anything, can be done to shield England’s footballers against the online abuse, mostly sexism and misogyny when it comes to women’s football. A prospect the players are preparing for when Euro 2022 begins on Wednesday.
And Carney is arguably now the epitome of why the abuse must be stopped. She deleted Twitter when she was still playing in 2018 following threat of rape and death. After returning to the platform, 18 months ago she left it again when Leeds United instigated a social media pile-on by sharing a clip of Carney, working as a pundit during Leeds’s 5-0 win against West Brom, saying that their intense style of football could cause the players to tire over the season. “I actually think they got promoted [last season] because of Covid,” she said, “in terms of it gave them a bit of respite.” Leeds added the caption: “Won the league by 10 points”.
It set in motion waves of horrific abuse, for a clip which was actually right. Leeds did struggle to maintain Marco Bielsa’s relentless football, the manager was sacked last season and they were almost relegated.
“I don’t know why people do it and I don’t really want to get into it, because it affects me and how I move forward for the rest of my day,” Carney tells i. “It brings things up for me so I don’t really wish to talk about it.”
Nonetheless, her answer prior to this point turned the debate about how to deal with social media abuse on its head. Rather than direct fury at the social media companies who have done an awful job at protecting those abused, why not focus on the people, the individuals themselves?
“What I think would really help the players is people not abusing people,” Carney says. “Interventions are really good, I’m all for artificial intelligence support, but the biggest thing is why are you abusing a player in the first place? What do you get from it? That’s what I always challenge now moving forward.
“There are some really good things in place, but I think the biggest one is: stop abusing players.”
More on Women's Euro 2022
It’s hard to see right now why anyone could get angry, at the start of a home European Championship with sold-out England group games, beginning against Austria at Old Trafford tonight. It promises a summer festival of football.
That said, it didn’t stop the abuse, much of it racial, directed at England’s male players who missed penalties in the Euro 2020 final penalty shootout.
“We’re in a world where we need to be kind, we need to be inclusive, we need to be supportive,” Carney adds. “If anyone is thinking about sending something, think about it, that for me is the biggest thing I want to see change in the messaging. Just stop doing it. It’s not good.”
Following 144 England caps, this is the first time in 17 years Carney will enjoy a tournament as a fan: “I’m really looking forward to going: I’m a football fan, this is awesome, we’re hosting a tournament!”
Equally, it’s not been easy to suppress the athlete inside of the 34-year-old itching to be out there playing.
“I’d love to always play,” she said. “I’m not bitter that I’m not part of it. I don’t regret my time in my career. I’m really blessed, I’m still involved in the sport, I’m still involved in changing it, adding growth to the game.
“But there’s still that little bit of me that would love to play. Any former player that says they don’t is lying.
There’s a small part that says that, then I literally walk: my knees, my back, everything…” she expresses the final word in a grimace.
Carney is one of a number of figures crucial to the rapid growth of women’s football since then. When she was a girl, she didn’t imagine she could even play football to earn a living but recent research by Booking.com has found that 85 per cent of England fans believe the growth of the women’s game has made becoming a professional footballer a viable career ambition for women and girls.
With a spotlight on the players like never before, Carney has one piece of advice that in an age of instant opinions could be harder than ever to heed. “Play like you’re an 11-year-old and nobody knows who you are,” she says. “Smile and have fun. I wish I’d done that more.”
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